The Denver Nuggets are trying to trade center Jusuf Nurkic, which is not exactly news. Perhaps there is more urgency to move him within the organization, though -- ESPN's Marc Stein reported Friday that the Nuggets are "working to find a new home" for him and "are searching out deals that would give him the Bosnian big man an opportunity to go elsewhere and start anew."
Thirteen days ago, Stein reported that Denver was merely "openly shopping" Nurkic.
If you're not familiar with the Nuggets' backup center, here's a quick primer: Two years ago, everybody was excited about him. As a 20-year-old rookie, he backed down from nobody, famously staring down both DeMarcus Cousins and Marc Gasol. He was fearless, skilled, physical and much more nimble than you'd expect for a guy of his size.
It is rare to find a 7-footer who can both score in the post and move his feet on defense, so he seemed like he'd be Denver's center of the future. After his rookie year, though, Nurkic had surgery to repair a tear in his left patellar tendon. He wasn't quite the same in his second season, and Nikola Jokic, the big man that the Nuggets picked 25 spots behind him in 2014, came over from Serbia and essentially took Nurkic's spot.
Denver tried to play both Nurkic and Jokic together at the start of the season, but the results were awful and coach Michael Malone put an end to that experiment. Jokic is now the fulcrum of their offense and the future of the franchise, while Nurkic has been relegated to an afterthought. In late December, after a string of DNP-CDs, Nurkic said, "I'm not here to sit on the bench, I'm here to play basketball," via BSN Denver.
Here, then, we have a promising young center who is not happy with his current role. Traditionally, this kind of player would not be difficult to move. Nurkic, however, does not have 3-point range, amazing athleticism or great court vision, making him an awkward fit in lots of lineups. Any team acquiring him knows that he's going to want minutes, touches and an opportunity to grow.
Given that the league is now full of capable big men, that kind of situation is scarce. Here are seven teams that should at least think about giving him a shot:
Milwaukee Bucks: I know, I know, his wing span isn't long enough to be a prototypical Bucks player. I'd like to think of him as a younger version of Greg Monroe, who has quietly excelled in his role as a backup this season. If Monroe opts out of the final year of his contract this summer, Nurkic could help Milwaukee by providing some scoring off the bench and improving its poor rebounding numbers. He'd have to be OK with competing with John Henson for minutes, though.
Brooklyn Nets: Brook Lopez can't stick around forever, can he? At some point, the Nets need to find some young big men to develop, and Nurkic is a good buy-low option. The question here is how the front office weighs his talent against the fact that he doesn't fit well with the way coach Kenny Atkinson is trying to play. Brooklyn has the fastest pace in the league and its centers spend a lot of time around the 3-point line -- not exactly an ideal system for Nurkic.
Dallas Mavericks: Much like the Nets, the Mavs are essentially going to be a blank slate. When Dirk Nowitzki retires, they're going to have to build something completely new. Andrew Bogut probably won't be a part of that, so the front office will have to decide how much they believe in Salah Mejri and A.J. Hammons. My hunch is that neither of them will be starting at center, so Nurkic would surely be worth a look.
Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James said he'd like the team to add another big man, but general manager David Griffin said he didn't anticipate doing that. If James has any influence, he might want to suggest targeting Nurkic, who would give them some extra physicality in the short term and another offensive weapon down the road. Nurkic would, of course, have to be patient when it comes to playing time and understand that playing with James and the Cavs' shooters would make him better eventually. This is a risk, plus it's a long shot because Cleveland has traded away so many draft picks.
Golden State Warriors: Would Golden State part with a first-round pick for a guy like Nurkic? Zaza Pachulia is not getting any younger, JaVale McGee is not a starting center and no one knows what kind of player Damian Jones will be, so maybe it would be worth it. It's probably wishful thinking to suggest that Pachulia's positional defense and passing would rub off on Nurkic, but hey, everyone has fun playing in Steve Kerr's system. Also, Draymond Green would love his fire.
Los Angeles Clippers: He probably can't play with DeAndre Jordan, but the Clippers could always use some extra oomph from their bench. The trouble is that they can't trade a second-round pick before 2019 and can't trade a first-round pick until 2021. I don't see an easy path to a deal here, but felt that Los Angeles should be on the list because it is always trying to add pieces midseason.
New Orleans Pelicans: They've basically given up on Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, so if they want to save Anthony Davis from battling bigger centers every single night, they need somebody else. Nurkic could be that guy, though I wonder if he fits with how coach Alvin Gentry would ideally like to play.
